Israel’s defense minister ordered a

Israel’s defense minis­ter orde­red a halt Thurs­day to the con­tro­ver­sial policy of demo­lish­ing the homes of Pale­sti­nian suicide bom­bers and gun­men after an inter­nal army review con­clu­ded it has not deter­red attack­ers but has infla­med hatred.

Since the 1967 Middle East War, Israel has razed more than 2,400 Pale­sti­nian homes -- lea­ving thou­sands of people home­less -- inclu­ding 675 hou­ses destroyed in the past four years of figh­ting, accor­ding to the Israeli human rights group B’tselem.

The army review found the prac­tice has infla­med hatred. The Haa­retz news­pa­per said there were no more than 20 cases in which the threat of demo­lition deter­red attack­ers or pushed their fami­lies to turn them in. Mili­tant groups com­pen­sate fami­lies of attack­ers and help them rebuild, weakening pos­sible deterrence.

The Israeli human rights group B’tselem says the Israeli mili­tary has destroyed more than 4,000 Pale­sti­nian homes during the cur­rent con­flict, most in ope­ra­tions to clear away buil­dings used by mili­tants as cover for attacks or to widen security roads. Those prac­tices were not inclu­ded in Thursday’s decision.